


Seeking Hope

by 2ndchancequeen



Series: Soul Mates [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 06:19:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1768762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2ndchancequeen/pseuds/2ndchancequeen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A letter to Emma from someone else affected by Marian's return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seeking Hope

**Author's Note:**

> I read somewhere that the producers of OUAT were surprised by how strongly (negatively) viewers felt about the return of Marian. They should not have been, but since they were, this one-shot explains why the story twist reaction would be so negative, but from the perspective of an original character within the show.
> 
> Note: This character is NOT based on me. Not entirely anyway...

Ms. Emma Swan

Room 5

Granny’s B&B

Storybrooke, ME

 

Dear Ms. Swan:

You don’t know me, but you ruined my life.

I’m one of the nameless, faceless people who populate this town and all the towns around this realm and every other. You don’t see us, but we see you, because you’re one of the people who Matter – you, your family and your boyfriends. You are the people who stand up to be counted, who fight for what’s right, and save the day. Or not.

I’m the person who fills your coffee cup, who wears the same cheesy outfit as Ruby, but doesn’t get the wolf whistles, who stood in the corner scared when the Wicked Witch threatened everyone in the diner. I don’t know why I was afraid -- the Witch would never have seen me, even though I was in plain sight.

So how did you ruin the life of someone who is just an onlooker? You took away my hope. You brought a woman back from the past and took my hope for the future.

No, I didn’t have a crush on her husband/widower. It was more complex and yet simpler than that. My hope for myself was rooted in Regina’s changing personality.

In the Enchanted Forest, I was a tavern wench, with no expectation of ever being anything else. When the first curse came, I was still a tavern wench but incarnated as a waitress at The Rabbit Hole. I still acted the way I always had, which wasn’t very reputably, because there seemed no point in changing.

Then the curse broke and I began to notice things around me. The conversations that took place, events in the town. I began to see people changing. Mostly our Mayor. She saved the town time after time and no one seemed to notice, but I did. And it made me think things could change for me. I quit The Rabbit Hole and went to Granny’s. I heard your mother talk about hope (she does that a lot). Over time, other people began to see the Mayor change and then she found, it seemed, love.

I’d run across the Mayor and her beau in various corners of town and the diner canoodling and making eyes at one another or simply holding hands.

That’s when I began to hope for the really big thing – a love of my own. Because surely, if someone who had led a life as evil as Regina could find love, then maybe I could, too. I hadn’t been evil, but I certainly wasn’t good either. When I was young I thought about finding love, but as time passed I realized that men only saw me when they were drunk or wanted something. Of course, I was hanging out in taverns and bars, so that probably had a bit to do with it. But if a man like the Mayor’s boyfriend could see good and promise in her, then surely there was someone out there for me after all. I just had to be good enough to deserve it. Like Regina.

And then you showed up with the woman from the past. Regina’s world crashed and it was written all over her face. This wasn’t some simple bump in the path to true love – there was no way out of the situation without someone getting terribly hurt emotionally, or just outright dying.

When I climbed alone into my bed that night I cried and cried over the hopelessness. Eventually I realized that the tears weren’t for her, but for me.   If there was no hope for Regina, who had come so far and sacrificed so much to be a better person, then what hope was there for me?

I know you didn’t mean to cause such pain, but I thought you should know that actions have consequences that ripple out far further than the immediate impact point. I’m not trying to be hurtful, but I’m reminded of an award one of the entertainment magazines gives out – “Stupidest Action by a Character Smart Enough to Know Better.” I mean, really! What if an escape attempt had been planned and her rescuers searched so long for her that they got captured or even killed? Or a guard executed because she’d escaped? Or someone else chosen for execution in her stead? The ‘ors’ go on and on. But no, for you saving one life meant more than the possibility of many other lives changed (or ended) forever. And no thought at all for lives like mine.

Since you’re the Savior, you’re probably going to try to find me and ‘fix’ things, or worse, try to get me to see Dr. Hopper. Don’t bother. I’ve already quit Granny’s and you won’t remember my face well enough to find me here in town. It’s best that way because then maybe you’ll realize that I’m not alone. Sure, I’m the one who wrote the letter, but my story is duplicated over and over again. It wasn’t just my hope that you took away – it was the hope of every woman like me.

I know you can’t undo what you did, but maybe you’ll think things through more carefully in the future. And maybe you’ll start paying attention to ramifications for even the faceless, nameless people like me.

I’m moving on now. I’d like to think that Regina will be happy, but I’m not sure I want to know, just in case it doesn’t work out. I think it's better not to know for sure, so that maybe, just maybe, I can learn to hope again.

It helped me to write this. I hope it helped you, too.

Sincerely,

Seeking Hope


	2. Trying Hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably should have stopped at a one shot, but the anonymous letter writing urge took over again.

Mayor Regina Mills

108 Mifflin St.

Storybrooke, ME

 

Dear Mayor Mills:

Please forgive my presumption in writing to you, but I wanted to tell you how much you have affected my life.

I’m not someone you would know or recognize. Until today, I worked at Granny’s as a waitress, but I was never anyone important or courageous like Ruby. Back in the Enchanted Forest, I was tavern wench, and when the curse came, I did the same kind of work, but at The Rabbit Hole.

When the first curse broke, it seemed that the only thing that had changed in my life was location. I was still just a wench of low repute and always would be.

Then I began watching you (not in a bad stalker way! Just paying attention to things around me.). I saw how you kidnapped your son, but then let him go to try to be a better mother. And you helped save Emma Swan and Mary Margaret. Then you nearly sacrificed yourself to save the whole town. And after that you came back from Neverland a hero – so much so that Mary Margaret shouted it out to the whole town. And in the Enchanted Forest, you protected us all from Zelena and the flying monkeys.

So, I thought to myself, if the Evil Queen can become a good person, a changed person, why can’t I? So I quit working at The Rabbit Hole and got a job at Granny’s. Still waitressing, but around a better class of people and with fewer temptations to be less than the person I ought to be.

I think things might be a bit rocky for you right now and maybe the temptation to be not so nice might grow. Just from watching your family in the diner, I know that you have their support and love, and that that won’t waver. It seemed to me, though, that maybe some unsolicited support from someone who isn’t expected to give it might be valuable, too.

Because even though you don’t know me, you’re my hero. You have given me the courage to change and I hope that with this letter that I may have been able to pay a little of that immense gift back.

Sincerely,

Trying Hard

 

* * *

 

 

Miss Rebecca Farmer

208 First Street, #2C

Storybrooke, ME

 

Dear Miss Farmer:

Thank you for your extraordinarily kind and timely letter. I know you wrote it anonymously, but once you said you were a waitress at Granny’s, how could it be anyone but you?

I had no idea that you thought I didn’t know your name when you were at Granny’s – I sincerely regret giving that impression. It is a legacy, I am afraid, of my ‘Evil Queen’ days. I always know the names and faces of the people around me – it’s just that it isn’t, shall we say, regal, to acknowledge them. I must break that habit.

I am humbled beyond words to be anyone’s hero. It is not a role to which I am accustomed. Thank you for noticing the positive actions that so many others, even myself, have too easily overlooked.

Changing one’s self is a long and arduous path. I applaud your courage in doing so, and make no mistake, it is YOU who is doing that hard work. I can claim no credit.

I was disappointed to see that you had quit Granny’s. I shall miss seeing you there. Where are you employed now? If you are not too settled in your new position already, perhaps you would consider applying to City Hall? We have a vacancy for an administrative assistant. Unfortunately, the last assistant was turned into a flying monkey and either I, Miss Swan, Captain Hook, or Sheriff Nolan, likely killed her when Zelena’s cursed minions attacked my son.

I know administrative assistant isn’t a wildly exciting job, but you did mention that you were trying to improve yourself and a switch to public service from the service industry may be just the ticket. The city does support continuing education for our staff so you would have the opportunity to work toward a degree.

My step-daughter likes to say that in this realm the only thing holding a woman back is herself. I’m not quite the cheerleader that she is, but she’s more right than wrong. (Please do not tell her I said so.)

I do hope that you’ll apply for the position in my office. I think we would work well together.

Sincerely,

Regina Mills

P.S. If you are the anonymous person who sent a letter to Miss Swan, may I say, well done! I have not heard what it said, but I understand that it shook her up quite a bit.  Good!


End file.
